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Adolescents’ (un)happiness in transition

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  • Coupe, Tom
  • Obrizan, Maksym

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the life satisfaction of adolescents in transition countries, comparing their life satisfaction with that of their peers in non-transition countries. We find that, at the start of transition, ceteris paribus, the life satisfaction of the adolescents in our sample of transition countries is somewhat smaller, but not significantly so, than the life satisfaction of the adolescents in our sample of non-transition countries. With the economic crisis of the early 1990s, however, the difference increased dramatically, but, by the beginning of the 2000s, this gap had again become fairly limited. From that point, respondents’ health situation, their material wealth and their school experience mattered much more than whether they lived in a transition country or not. Unlike the literature on adults, we do not find that after controlling for individual level variables, macro variables play an important role in adolescent happiness.

Suggested Citation

  • Coupe, Tom & Obrizan, Maksym, 2018. "Adolescents’ (un)happiness in transition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 858-873.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:46:y:2018:i:3:p:858-873
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2018.07.012
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    1. Sergei Guriev & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2009. "(Un)happiness in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 143-168, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Rudolf & Dirk Bethmann, 2023. "The Paradox of Wealthy Nations’ Low Adolescent Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 79-105, January.
    2. Maksym Obrizan, 2018. "Quantifying the Gap in Self-Rated Health for Transition Countries Over 1989–2014," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(3), pages 388-409, September.
    3. Dirk Bethmann & Robert Rudolf, 2021. "The paradox of wealthy nations' unhappy adolescents," Discussion Paper Series 2101, Institute of Economic Research, Korea University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Happiness; Transition; HBSC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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